In the commercial production of cereals, snacks and bakery products, glazes have customarily been applied as coatings to the surfaces of the food products to enhance their flavor and customer appeal. Glazes have typically been used to seal the surface of the food product and to provide a high sheen to the product. Additionally, where the food product is not completely coated with an icing the glaze serves as a barrier between the relatively high-moisture food product and the relatively low-moisture icing.
Currently, most effective glazes are protein-based, being composed of eggs or compositions containing protein additives designed to replicate the action of egg components. Glazes composed of eggs must be used before cooking as the cooking process imparts the characteristic transparent films on the surface of the food products. Moreover, the liquid egg-coating material must be carefully maintained below 40° F. to maintain its structure and reduce the development of off-flavors and microbial growth and is widely recognized as a potential source of quality control problems.
While not being susceptible to the same quality control problems, egg-free glazes developed for use after baking have not been totally satisfactory in sealing the surface of the food product. In particular, starch-based products are often undesirably sticky, exhibit unacceptably high viscosity, and cannot be prepared at solids contents of greater than 30%. Moreover, the viscosity of these product is not stable and increases unacceptably over time. Presently commercially available glazes containing starch require additional components designed to alleviate these deficiencies.
There is a need in the food industry for a stable, low viscosity, high sheen glaze which provides a good surface seal on food products.